CBI on Facebook to crack murder case

With no headway after a two-month probe into the killing of RTI activist Shehla Masood, the investigating agency is seeking your help.

With no headway after a two-month probe into the killing of RTI activist Shehla Masood, the investigating agency is seeking your help.

If you happen to find a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) official surfing on Facebook, don't just assume that he's goofing off. The country's top investigating agency is the latest in line to befriend the social networking trend. To bridge the gap between the police and public, Bhopal wing of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has opened a page on Facebook.

More importantly, it has kicked off with one of the most talked about cases at present, the Shehla Masood murder case. The probe is being handled by CBI Delhi. Initiated by Bhopal Deputy-Inspector General (DIG) Hemant Priyadarshy, the Facebook page is by the name of CBI Bhopal. Speaking to MiD DAY, Priyadarshy said, "We started it with the intention to share our investigation and get any information that could help in the probe."

Eternal flame: Shehla leading an anti-corruption march in Bhopal earlier this year.

'It's a start'"Even though we didn't get the response we had hoped for in this particular case, we will carry on with the page as we strongly believe it will help us and the people in the future," he said. He added the page was a bridge of communication between the people and the CBI. The 32-year-old RTI activist, Masood, was shot dead in broad daylight in front of her house on August 16 in Bhopal. CBI had taken over the case three weeks after the murder, and it was transferred to the Delhi team nearly a week ago.

Still searchingThe team comprising Joint Director Keshav Kumar and DIG Arun Bosra took charge of the probe. Masood was killed by an unidentified person in front of her residence in the posh Koh-e-Fiza locality. Regarding the transfer of the case, Priyadasrhy said, "We have informed the officers who took the charge after us about the CBI Facebook page."

Ever since the probe began names of many influential political personalities have surfaced. No one, however, has been questioned as yet. The agency is also facing difficulties in finding an eyewitness to the murder, which might have prompted the officers to take patronage of the social networking websites.

The silenced activistMasood worked primarily on wildlife conservation and also supported other causes such as good governance, RTI Act, police reforms, environment, women's rights, transparency and sexual minorities' rights. She had recently sat on a fast in support of Anna Hazare's India Against Corruption campaign. She was actively involved in raising issues related to the death of tigers in various sanctuaries of Madhya Pradesh. She was about to leave for Boat Club in Bhopal to join an anti-government protest when her life was cut short.

So farCBI is yet to get a breakthrough in the case. They haven't been able to trace the weapon used till now. CBI's Bhopal unit had been looking into the case since the first week of September and had even announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for anyone giving information leading to the arrest of the assailant(s).